Table of Contents
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The Wiley Trading series features books by traders who have survived the markets ever changing temperament and have prosperedsome by reinventing systems, others by getting back to basics. Whether a novice trader, professional or somewhere in-between, these books will provide the advice and strategies needed to prosper today and well into the future.
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To all the members of the worldwide global-view.com community
Preface
Forex Essentials in 15 Trades takes a new and different approach to teaching the basics of currency trading. The three authors combined have nearly 100 years of experience in the markets; our experiences are from different perspectives and vantage points. What we have in common is that our insights come from the perspective of a trader. Many books are available on learning the mechanics and language of FOREX, but reading this book along with the resources on the Global-View.com web site will give you a unique, in-depth perspective on currency trading.
HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
This book is divided into three parts. Part One provides a substantive background in FOREX basics, money management, fundamentals, technical analysis, and what it takes to be a successful trader. Part Two details 15 of author Mike Archers trades, showing how theory might be translated into practice. Part Three is a compendium of articles written by the authors to supplement Parts One and Two.
Part Two analyzes 15 FOREX trades to let the reader see the books concepts in action and to get inside a traders mind as he sifts information, seeks candidate trades, makes a trade, monitors it, and finally conducts a postmortem of the trade. These are all real trades made by author Mike Archer. Part Two begins with his Snowflake heuristic for finding trades (Chapter 8) and describes his two primary trading methods, the Goodman Swing Count System and market environments (ME).
Part Three is a compendium of readings primarily from the Global-View web site. These articles supplement the Part One and Part Two chapters. For example, you may even wish to skim Chapter 27 (GSCS basics) and Chapter 28 (ME applications) before reading Part Two. Appendix A, GVIs Common Sense for Traders Checklist, provides more perspective to the reader for both the FOREX basics and the money management chapters in Part One.
This book also offers two unique learning tools: The Inside Scoop and GVI Snippets. Most traders never know or learn more about the markets than they see on their broker-dealers trading platform or hear from a news squawk box. The professionals edge is in seeing the hidden structures behind market movements; herein we attempt to peer through that window with The Inside Scoop. Following is an example:
THE INSIDE SCOOP (MIKE ARCHER)
As a newbie in 1973 I was struggling with some of the syntax and intricacies of the futures market. The meaning of the important concept of a carrying charge was eluding me. I read several explanations of it, and two brokers attempted to explain it to me. No luck. Finally, I stumbled across a discussion of hedging where the term was used twice in context. I had a eureka moment, and suddenly the other explanations all fell nicely into place. Looking at the same subject or concept from different perspectives is almost always worthwhile to the beginner.
Global-View has been in operation for about a dozen years. The amount of useful material archived in just its forums is enormous. By becoming a GVI member (it is free!) you can participate in the current, ongoing forumswhich run seven days a week, 24 hours a dayand access the wealth of materials and insights in the archives. A simple keyword search on the GVI forums of a term or concept can be illuminating by virtue of the many contexts in which you will see the word or phrase. The back-and-forth, theory-and-practice approach is both an easier and a more effective method for learning FOREX. It is also more entertaining and enjoyable than a straight description. You have the opportunity to learn most FOREX subjects by viewing them from a range of perspectives and contexts. Following is an example of a GVI Snippet, which will appear throughout the book (this is a typical market comment from a U.S. trader):
I expect a slight dollar pullback on some pairs, though the euro should remain weak. I expect some spec buying starting @ 1.4327. Until this level I dont expect major moves. Cable (British pound) might firm up a little. For a good yielder it may be time to scale in a micro lot in gbpusd. GL/GTs to ALL.
Or (from a trader in Shanghai):
Oil has been leading Dollar for the last few years and Dollars medium-term direction may depend on it as well. Oil may correct some more in coming weeks. Expecting Dx to range in 75-78 range for a few weeks. Medium-term, it may test DX 80 region but that may be as far as it can bounce. Dollars long-term trend is still down. It never had any medium-term bounce since 2006 and having one now and that is all. All the best.
Or (also Shanghai):
For medium-term traders, the combination of Spot and Option positions is the way to go to take advantage of the whole move lasting for weeks and months. For example, when Eur/Usd and Usd/Jpy moved some 1,000 pips it is always advisable to use Option strategies to lock in the profits and also cover the future advances as well. In that way, you will keep your original positions and still be able to take advantage of future moves at little or no cost. Study of Option strategies will help a lot for medium-term traders to avoid the pitfalls when the market retraces some or most of its advances. Spot and Options must be used together as two weapons in the whole strategy and that may enhance your performance as a position trader a great deal. But at the end of the day, not all traders can have those nerves of steel and patience which can stand months of holding positions. So, a trader can adjust some suitable strategy for his own personality as well.
Each chapter offers highlights and excerpts from the Global-View web site on the topic at hand via the GVI Snippets. In the Summary sections we provide Global-View web site links with supplemental material for study.
BEYOND THE BOOK: THE GLOBAL-VIEW WEB SITE
The goal of the Global-View.com web site is to support traders of all levels of experience. It offers a broad range of content and tools to support traders. It is a web site designed by traders for traders.
The centerpiece of the Global-View community is its trader forums. The forums, which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, include members from over 160 countries. The forums are not chat rooms. They are nonintimidating places where traders can come at any time to exchange ideas and follow the news and flows that are driving the FOREX and financial markets.
Global-View offers a wealth of free content and products to support trading activities. They include free charts, FOREX rates, chart points, signal services, selected FOREX blogs, and a Jobs Center. The free FOREX broker listing service is one of the most popular pages.
